Well it's been one of those weeks.

Well as weeks go it's been kind of crazy, not bad as such just crazy, stuff has been happening but that has kept me far busier than I usually am, things should have settled down by the weekend and it will hopefully be business as usual here, for the few people who follow my blog thank you for your patience.

Teen Wolf

I have only recently watched the first season of Teen Wolf, I kind of liked the movies back in the 80's but as much as this show is supposedly based on those films or at least the first one the TV show and the films really have very little in common.

Originally I assumed this was a show I would have no real interest in and that it would pretty much be an angst filled teenage drama and while it has aspects of that at times I never expected it would be fun.

Firstly most of the werewolf effects in the show are terrible even for a mid budget TV show ( at least they are in season 1 ) and the show was entirely predictable during it's first season and I don't think they did anything that even mildly shocked me but the cast actually has some degree of chemistry and the whole thing has been presented in a fun way.

Much to my shock I'm looking forward to seeing season 2.

Alphas

For a while now I had been hearing about Alphas and what I had been hearing was mostly very good so I made a note of it and planned to catch it one day, the first season came and went, the second season came and went and I still hadn't gotten around to watching it, then the news came that the show had been cancelled.

Eventually I saw the season 1 boxset on sale so I thought I'd grab it while it was going cheap, my DVDs eventually arrived and I sat down and watched the first disc, my initial thought were "I don't get it".

I understood what was going on and what the show seemed to be about but I just didn't get what all the fuss was about, some friends told me to stick with the show and that it was a little slow to get started but it did improve and they were right it did indeed improve but it didn't become must see viewing as far as I was concerned, I think it would be fair to say I like the show but don't love it and that I am interested in seeing the second and final season but it's not something I NEED to see.

Maybe I've just gotten jaded and cynical but it seems like I've seen this basic story plenty of times in the past and Alphas didn't really do anything new with it, at least not during the first season anyway.

Chronicle

To be honest I was start to get sick of the recent found footage type films that have become popular again so as a result I had put off seeing Chronicle, I had friends that had told me they thought I'd really like it and as it turns out they were right.

The film starts out as these type of films seem to introducing it's main characters and it seemed like it was going to be a fairly low budget affair but the lead characters start developing special abilities and the film becomes more and more impressive, this isn't your typical Hollywood mega-budget blockbuster but I found I was ( mostly ) impressed by what they managed on a technical level and it's simple story was told in a fairly compelling way.

Definitely worth a look if you get the chance.

Superman: What Price Tomorrow

I recently picked up a hardcover collection of the first 6 issues of DC Comics relaunch of Superman, I'd seen some of the artwork online and I knew that I didn't like some of their design choices for the new Superman, what I didn't expect was that it would be one of the worst things I'd read in years, the artwork is for the most part bland and I generally enjoy Nicola Scott's art ( if memory serves me correctly she was finishing art by George Perez on at least some of the issues so that may have something to do with it ) but what I really didn't expect was how boring the story was, sadly it was one of the worst things I've read in years.

Superman is one of DC's flagship titles so I was expecting something special when it came to the Superman relaunch, perhaps my expectation were too high but I have no real interest in reading any more stories based on this incarnation of Superman.

I also recently picked up a couple of other New 52 trade paperbacks but based on how wrong they got the Superman relaunch I'm not sure I want to read them any time soon.

The Wicker Tree

I'm a big fan of the original version of The Wicker Man so I awaited the release of The Wicker Tree with a mixture of curiosity and dread, I didn't think for a moment it could equal the original film but I hoped for something decent and to be fair The Wicker Tree is a decent film, the main problem is that anyone who has seen The Wicker Man pretty much knows exactly what to expect.

Like the previous film I enjoyed some of the music in The Wicker Tree and it had some funny moments, what it didn't have was the sense of ever building dread and tension that was present in The Wicker Man, it became fairly obvious what was going on early in the film so it was a case of waiting for it to happen.

Sadly The Wicker Tree is somewhat of a missed opportunity but that being said it's still far better than the American remake of The Wicker Man.

Doctor Who: The Forgotten

One of the things I picked up while I was in Sydney for the Lords of Time convention was the hardcover trade paperback Doctor Who: The Forgotten.

Basically The Doctor loses his memory and with the help of Martha Jones explores what appears to be a museum dedicated to his past lives and using various items on exhibit within begins to remember who he is, meanwhile a mysterious observer hatches a his deadly plot for revenge.

The Forgotten was a fun read, it features the first 10 Doctors as well as several of the companions and is chock full of references to both the classic and new series that will no doubt amuse fans of the show.

I did find the basic concept behind this story reminded me a bit of Terrance Dick's novel The Eight Doctors but I still enjoyed the story despite this.